DeLonghi La Specialista EC9335M

Very satisfied with the La Specialista – I was hesitant to purchase this machine La Specialista having read a few unfavorable reviews of leaking water and icon lights flashing. But with further research & reading a good number of positive responses and reviews, and upon an acquaintance's recommendation I decided to make this purchase. I'm so glad I did. SO far after two weeks this… Read more ·  2

machine is amazing; making wonderful flat whites three times a day has been an absolute delicious-delight. I enjoy using this machine every morning. It's a beauty. Love the design on my country kitchen table.

Very helpful to watch all of Delonghi's Youtube videos. I recommend using freshly roasted beans if possible. I found there was a short learning curve and a number of tries - x 4 - to tweak the dials for the ideal amount of coffee grinds needed and coffee grinder's coarse position #. Once that was resolved it was great thereafter. The crema and taste just perfect! Best coffee so I've stopped going to my local cafes for a good cuppa! Thus, saving $. It's still early days yet. I will update after several months.

First "ground coffee" machine and a great start – Have been a capsule coffee drinker for years but decided this was an ideal time to try stepping up to the next level. After carefully reading a number of online reviews (and watching Youtube videos), I felt I was ready to tackle the EOFY sales and make my purchase. APPEARANCE The Delonghi machine is eye-catching, being finished in gleaming… Read more ·  1

stainless steel with black accenting. It has attracted a lot of attention by visitors and my wife still comments on how great it looks in our kitchen. In fact, it looks much like a scaled down commercial machine. It has a squat footprint on your bench top and sits on rubberised pads which protects your bench and stops it moving.

FUNCTIONALITY There is a variable control to adjust the length of the grind to assist in neither over or under filling the filter holder. There is also a three position switch to select either Expresso, Long Black or Coffee. Usefully, there is also a button that delivers just hot water which is ideal for cup warming or (as the symbol suggests) providing hot water for a cup of “tea bagged” tea.

Water delivery volume and temperature are able to be altered from factory settings if you so wish. For more accurate coffee delivery the system works by volume rather than time.

There is a pressure gauge on the front which helps you to ensure correct infusion is taking place. There is very handy for a novice such as myself.

There are six grind settings from fine to coarse. Grinder starts automatically after inserting the filter holder into place.

Rather than using boilers, the machine has “thermoblock” technology which heats the water quickly and on demand. Steam for milk frothing is very good and there is a setting for “Flat” or “Foam” frothing. Overall, the machine delivers 19bar pressure. There are warnings relating to low beans, low water etc. Steam delivery cannot be done while coffee is being infused but it only takes a few seconds for it to be available after that.

The machine has a drop down table (normally held up by a magnet) for putting in small expresso cups. With the table up, I've found I can just squeeze in 350ml double wall glasses under the filter holder.

Filters for single and double shot are included. Double shot is selected by a button on the machine.

Perhaps, one of the best features is the built in coffee tamper arm which you use to tamp the coffee in the filter after grinding. This delivers a preset amount of pressure with the tamper always being held perpendicular to the coffee grind surface thus ensuring even tamping. It also means a lot less mess on the bench top.

Provided in the box is a SS Milk Jug, descaling tablets and cleaning brush.

Overall, it performs exactly how you would expect it to do and delivers fantastic coffee easily the equal of store bought. Coffee is HOT and there s plenty of steam pressure to formulate the milk just as you want it. Just don't forget to ensure you are using freshly roasted coffee (less than two weeks) for best results with great crema.

The Delonghi company has posted a number of Youtube videos which are excellent at assisting beginners in using this machine.

WHAT COULD BE BETTER? At this point there is very little to complain about. It could do with some means of cord storage so you don't have to keep hiding the extra length around the back. This is made worse by having to refill the machine by pulling it out away from the wall to access the water tank which is lifted up and out (at least in my situation where there are cupboards above).

Grinder is built in so you need to be aware that it has a bit of height if you intend to position the machine under some low cabinets.

"Drip Tray full" is just a floating piece of tray plastic that sticks up through the grill as the tray fills. I've found that by the time this happens, the tray is already about to overflow. Better just to get into the habit of emptying it every second or third use than to rely on it.

These are only very minor issues and I feel happy placing a firm recommendation on this.

Bought the machine yesterday and love it so much. Some reviews about leaking worries me now. Fingers crossed! – My first cafe latte from the machine and I love the taste. Is this optimal yet or it has to go up a bit? Still a lot to explore from this one! (Updated on 07/12/2023: The machine's still working perfectly. Also I now know working on its optimal zone and my coffee is better than some at cafés I believe :)) Happy New Year everyone!) Show details ·  2

Will never buy another Cappuccino – Fantastic machine. Easy to use with a large bean capacity that allows variable grind for a optimal coffee consistency. The smart Tampa allows exact coffee compaction to produce Perfect Caffè crema. Comes with 3 set coffee menus that can be customised to taste, espresso, long black and strong coffee.Has a flat and foam milk frother for flat white and cappuccino. Show details ·  1

No pressure, no crema - now fixed – Problem Fixed - thanks Delonghi! Fix was to dial up the temp to the higher setting (lookup secret menu), use more coffee than recommended, changed coffee bean for one with more (better?) oils... and actually increase the grind coarseness Hey guys great machine so far but for a fundamental failure - I must have poured a hundred different coffees… Read more ·  1

to try and dial in good crema and pressure ... but no change on grind setting will fix this - the volume of ground coffee dispensed is EXACTLY on the line of the porta filter - and yet never do I get much more than one increment into the optimal zone - and the result is like NO crema or maybe a little crema on the cup wall. I have literally tried every combination including using the 2x cup and variations on this too... help!

Victom of the color – I've had 4 Delonghi machines over the past few years. They all wellserved and I was very happy. Since my ex-wife took my beloved old machine, I decided to buy Arte which has a reasonable price. I usually never fall for color or look but I wanted to match my toaster and kettle so had to drive 100km to buy a green one. It worked for about a week… Read more

then started failing, first steamer failed, then low pressure to no pressure and leaked over night all over my kitchen. Took it to Delonghi repair shop and it was there for a month and Delonghi refunded me. I heard at JBs, The Good Guys and also at the repair shop that they see this model coming very often and always similar failour. I asked Delonghi that I am happy to pay the different and they send me a 9335 which I had before. They advised that it is not their policy to do so. I was tempted a lot to buy the yellow color today but changed my mind. I am using my pod machine until I can afford a higher model which tend to be more reliable. I believe the build quality of Arte is poor just like 1 series BMW.

Never Ever Again – In the past 10 years we have always purchased Delonghi coffee machines, both automatic and semi automatic units. In less than 10 months of owning this machine, it has seriously and dangerously failed. The internal workings of the unit, including mechanical and electrical components, have filled with steam and water. This lead to a loss of… Read more

pressure and water to leak out around the base and onto the bench. The unit also leaked out steam from internally, fogging parts of the unit. The built in pressure gauge also filled with water. We were shocked that a unit of this age could fail. The failure was both disappointing and dangerous. Clearly something had burst internally. The unit was sent to Service Sphere Domestic in North Melbourne for warranty. Disgracefully it's been 5 weeks and the machine has yet to be looked at. We rang today and were told the machine is still cued to be looked at. In other words, the assessment or repair has not begun! We were also told we would receive a return phone call today. The call never came. The unit has simply failed prematurely. Sadly, Delonghi customer service and Service Sphere Domestic have also failed us. Delonghi have washed their hands of the issue and Service Sphere Domestic are not capable of meeting their service obligation. The coffee machine is of poor quality to have failed in such a short time. We've maintained and descaled the machine as per requirements and have set up the descaling at the most frequent scheduling intervals. It would be fair and reasonable to expect Delonghi to send us a replacement coffee machine. Based on the fact that it has failed dramatically in less than a year and they have not been able to repair it in 5 weeks, or even give us a timeframe for its repair. We do not see how a unit that has failed to this degree, could safely and reliably perform for future years, after an attempted repair. We are absolutely disgusted with Delonghi and disappointed with the failing of this coffee machine. After 10 years of loyalty to Delonghi coffee machines, we will never buy a delonghi coffee machine again. Hopefully Breville will meet our expectations. Update 19/5/22: Entered mediation process. Mostly pointless. Receiving messages from "Delonghi Team" or being referred off to "Experts". Nothing personalised, no direct names or direct contact details. Lots of "sorry for the delay" type comments. Apparently we are receiving the repaired machine back today.

Update 21/5/22... Received the machine back and have gone to use it. The selection switch beneath the silver round knob is broken and the silver selector knob just falls off. Just fantastic after more than 5 weeks, returned with a new issue.

Terrible. Major fault after 4 weeks. Replacement machine is worse – Machine failed after 4 weeks. Requested descaling and was done as per instructions with delonghi brand descaler. Machine got stuck in descale mode. I took it to the retailer and after 90 minutes watching them try they too agreed the machine was faulty ( 4 weeks old). The replacement machine is terrible and also had major faults The grinder… Read more

simply does not grind the beans finer enough even on “1 setting” For finest.

The delivery of volume is broken. When tired to max is doesn’t deliver enough to meet the minimum required amount.

Machine doesn’t reach pressure. Barley raised 1 or 2 notches. Coffee is weak runny and under done.

Will return the product and this time for a refund. No confidence is this unit or the brand any more.

Note: I have been using manual coffee machines for 8 years approx. different brand/styles and even commercial.

Unhealthy - muck gets into the wand – The wand on this machine is made of 2 parts - plastic internal and stainless external. Milk gets inbetween the two parts and rots, no matter how well you clean it. Show details